Archive for the ‘Today in the Journal News’

Nick Swisher went for what the Yankees are calling a precautionary MRI on his groin/quad injury. The results aren’t yet available — the Yankees expected to hear something by the end of the game — but Swisher was moving pretty easily through the Yankees clubhouse this afternoon.

“I feel like I know my body pretty well,” Swisher said. “In situations like that, you know when something really goes or when something kind of gets nicked a little bit. I feel it’s hopefully just a little strain and then just kind of day-to-day from here.”

The Yankees have already decided that Swisher will sit out the rest of this series in Oakland. At the earliest he’ll be back Monday night in Seattle.

“It’s something we’re just going to have to deal with over the next couple days,” Joe Girardi said. “Depending on what the MRI shows, it will give us a better idea how long it’s probably going to be.”

Swisher said he’s still confident the disabled list will never come into play.

“I feel like I’m one of those guys that I can play through a lot of pain, but I think more than anything, I just want to get back,” Swisher said. “I’ve got to take these next couple of days off, just chill out, and we’ll see what happens in Seattle.”

• The Yankees face a right-handed starter tonight, and the next four nights, which means Dewayne Wise could get some regular playing time as long as Swisher is out. “He’s got a chance to play a lot, that’s for sure,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said he really hasn’t heard a detailed report on Joba Chamberlain’s most recent minor league rehab outing. Chamberlain gave up a couple of runs yesterday, but Girardi said he hasn’t heard anything to concern him. “Everything has went pretty smoothly,” Girardi said. “The fact that he’s been able to throw two innings has been good. I think he threw 32 pitches yesterday, and he used all his pitches, so I don’t see how it could have really went any better.”

• Before they face Bartolo Colon tomorrow afternoon, the Yankees are seeing a lot of the A’s young starters this series. Tommy Milone and A.J. Griffin have pitched well the past two nights. Tonight it’s Jarrod Parker’s turn. “They’re all a little bit different,” Girardi said. “The guy we’re going to face tonight has a little bit more power and an excellent changeup. They’re young, they’re throwing the ball well and they’re locating.”

• Speaking of locating, Girardi said that’s the reason the Yankees haven’t been drawing walks out here. It’s not being too aggressive at the plate. The Yankees simply aren’t seeing a ton of pitches out of the zone. “They’re throwing a lot of strikes,” Girardi said. “When you look up there, they’re just throwing a lot of strikes and they’re location. You look at he last two guys we faced, they’re command guys. They don’t have a lot of walks. Something that they’re doing a good job of.”

• Yoenis Cespedes has his batting average up to .304 with 12 homers and 44 RBI. After bursting onto the radar this winter, Cespedes has largely lived up to his billing. “He’s swinging the bat extremely well, and he’s hitting the ball hard,” Girardi said. “The contact that he’s making is hard contact, so whether it’s a ground ball flying through the infield or it’s a home run, he’s swinging the bat really well.”

• Maybe it’s because the Yankees are in first place and it’s the middle of July, but really, things are incredibly quiet around this team. Aside from the Swisher injury, there’s just not much going on here day-to-day.

Interesting stats from our good friend Pete Caldera: CC Sabathia is 4-0 with a 2.73 ERA against Baltimore this year. Against everyone else he’s 2-3 with a 4.69.

Those numbers are after last night’s game, when Sabathia got on a roll after the third inning and helped carry the Yankees to a 4-2 win. His past four wins have come against the Orioles, and he hasn’t beaten another team since April 16 against Texas.

Well, not quite home, but I’m making my way to Baltimore this morning. The Yankees are already there, and they left Canada on a high note yesterday, rallying to beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in their series finale. The Yankees pitched well this series, but the offense didn’t really show up until yesterday’s eighth inning.

Find my way up north, find out what I’m worth.
Try and understand, just how big I am.
- North, by Jerry Joseph

After sweeping the lowly Orioles and taking three of four against the last-place Indians, the Yankees are back on the road to begin a three-game series against the surprisingly good Blue Jays. It will be season’s first meeting between these two teams, and the standings suggest it will be the Yankees toughest series of a relatively easy two-and-a-half week stint.

Of course, the imperfect perfect game in Detroit remains a hot topic of discussion and the Yankees seem a little split on whether the first-base call should be reversed. My own opinion: Let it stand. What’s done is done, and baseball has a good memory for this sort of thing. It may very well go down as the most famous perfect game since Don Larsen’s, despite what the box score says.

I’m about to catch my flight to Canada. Sweeny Murti is here with me, which seems to always be the case. If you’re curious, Sweeny went with oatmeal. I chose a bagel. That’s the kind of hard-hitting news we love here at the LoHud Yankees Blog!

I’ll check in again from Toronto. Take care of America while I’m gone.

Robinson Cano said he can’t remember being on this kind of roll. Last night he had three hits including his 12th home run in a Yankees win against the Orioles. Phil Hughes was outstanding on the mound, Nick Swisher had a big night of his own and this afternoon the Yankees will go for the sweep.

Jorge Posada is back in the lineup, but it might be a while before he gets back behind the plate. The notebook also has items on Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Alfredo Aceves.

It seems likely Jorge Posada will be activated from the disabled list today. “If he’s healthy without any issues tomorrow, he’s probably a player for us,” Joe Girardi said yesterday.

As the Yankees ease Posada back into the lineup, he’ll probably get his first start at designated hitter. Question is, how many more games will he start at DH? Enough to keep Chad Moeller on the roster for a few more days? If Moeller is designated for assignment and Posada suffers a quick setback, the Yankees would need to add Rene Rivera to fill that veteran backup catcher role, and Rivera doesn’t have nearly Moeller’s experience.

Would you consider optioning either Juan Miranda or Kevin Russo in favor of a third catcher?

Curtis Granderson was back in the lineup for the first time in almost four weeks, and to make room for him the Yankees designated Randy Winn for assignment. The notebook also has items on Jorge Posada, Alfredo Aceves, Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli.

Down to my last 50 minutes in Minneapolis. Gate G3 is my flight to LaGuardia. Gate G1 is a flight to Newark. In between is Gate G2, a flight to Los Angeles. It seems out of place.

The Yankees are already home, hoping the upcoming schedule will provide some relief from what has been a rocky past two weeks. In theory, the schedule is getting easier, beginning with four-game series against last-place Cleveland.

“Every team can beat you,” Joe Girardi said. “That’s just baseball. It all starts with your pitchers and how your pitchers are throwing.”

The Yankees pitchers didn’t throw especially well last night. Javier Vazquez was knocked around, especially early, and the Yankees lost their series finale against the Twins. It didn’t help that the offense failed to score more than four runs for a sixth straight game.

Playing in a hard-to-homer ballpark, the Yankees hit two big home runs on Wednesday and won a pair of games against the Twins. The home runs were huge, but the Yankees couldn’t have won without masterful performances from their pitchers who ultimately allowing two runs in 18 innings, with Mariana Rivera getting the save in each game.

That very same pitching staff got some help on Wednesday when Chad Gaudin signed a major league deal and rejoined the bullpen as a long reliever, bumping Sergio Mitre into more of a middle relief role. The notebook also has items on Alfredo Aceves, Boone Logan, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Russo.